Task Dependency Status

I've been reading several posts where 'Task Dependencies' were discussed and several users requested this feature to be implemented here. I consider this option really useful to manage properly the tasks which have a 'Waiting' Status. Nonetheless, each of the topics concerning this issue has been locked due to the time. I would like to have some notions of the status of such a development, could anyone give some feedback regarding this topic?

I think it would be interesting if users, at least those we are paying our subscription, had a rough idea about the roadmap in order to assess whether or not the product is meant to fulfill their expectations in the medium-long term. It is wise not to provide a short-term view, since users will potentially be pesting all the time; but the other extreme, that is no information at all, may not be the best solution.

I've spent the last 2 hrs researching and experimenting, trying to hide dependent tasks with filters and whatever column I can manage to make it work with. I havent been able to, yet. And I don't know if I will have to use a work-around for 1 week or 3 years .. because Toodledo won't hint as to their priority on this feature.

The point of using a service like toodledo, for me, is to avoid having to rely on manual intervention and to show the shortest list of immediately actionable tasks possible. It seems I cannot do both with Toodledo, without dependent task functionality.

Further: I think sub-tasks is silly. It should be called task-groups because thats all it does. Theres is still no way to say "this one comes before that one" in a way that incorporates basic "ok, so then you should do this one next" and "you can ignore those for now" AUTOMATICLY. Am I wrong here?

As of today, I have simply recorded my dependent tasks as plain-text in the notes of the active task. However this is a problem-some solution: I cant have differing aspects pre-defined (context, etc) and searchable, nor can I assure I will remember to create the next task per completion of the one before. I can either hide dependents using some workaround or show them. And thats it!

I also cannot grasp how some people are depending on weekly reviews to mark their previously-dependent-but-can-now-be-active tasks. If I were to do that, I open myself up to a risk that I will forget some tasks for up to 7 days.

Toodledo is missing a very functional and fundamental and helpful feature in my opinion. If anything, Toodledo should roll-out a very simplistic dependency feature of any sort. Don't worry about making it perfect .. just make it an option that defaults off and has the word "beta" next to it. Even if you add a new "status" option on only sub-tasks called "Dependent on Above" which hides that sub-task until the one above it is completed. When the sub-tasks list is broken up in normal view, the master task should HIDE itself, and instead only the currently active task should be shown with an automatic "active" status.

I believe adding some sort of dependency logic will instantly put Toodledo miles ahead of the competition. further, I believe if they aggressively utilize their userbase for input on dependency implementation as they work out the kinks, they will PERFECT it for every user despite how their applications differ so greatly. THAT will make Toodledo the #1 tasks manager solution on the market period. And I will become a life long customer, of course.

Until then ... I'm not spending the time to move all my tasks into Toodledo, especially not knowing if this feature will come before I arrive at retirement. I have realized what I'm looking for IS this task dependency, and it's why NO task manager out there fits my needs.

I welcome any further comments on workarounds that were not already discussed in the forum (I've searched for and read them all)

I am sorry that we do not have this feature yet. To my knowledge, no other popular online tasks managers have this either. I think Microsoft Project has it. This is on our to-do list, but it is a very complicated feature to add. We don't have a roadmap for this feature, but it is frequently requested so it will come sooner rather than later.

Add me to the request list. Why not give each task a GUID. Add a dependency selector for other tasks and have the priority check to see if the task is completed. On each task with a dependency set a time frame to add a new due date. For example task one has a dependency on task 2 with a 3-day due date. If task one gets checked as completed, the prioroty notifier will catch it within 24-hours (or an hour or whatever interval makes sense). It then sets the Due-Date for task 2 to 3 days later.

Add me to the request list. Why not give each task a GUID. Add a dependency selector for other tasks and have the priority check to see if the task is completed. On each task with a dependency set a time frame to add a new due date. For example task one has a dependency on task 2 with a 3-day due date. If task one gets checked as completed, the prioroty notifier will catch it within 24-hours (or an hour or whatever interval makes sense). It then sets the Due-Date for task 2 to 3 days later.

I would prefer it be done rather differently. For me, it would work better if when I clicked a predecessor task complete, the successor task appeared at the top of the current list, like a newly entered task. I could then edit dates, etc, depending on the current circumstances. Having some predetermined duration for the successor task would not work, as I really wouldn't know what's appropriate until I completed the predecessor.

I imagine this is what will make programming this feature difficult. There are probably as many approaches to this as there are users. And we all think we're at Burger King!

I have been paying my PRO Subscription for several years (at least 3) and have requested some dependency in tasks. I have basically been fumbling without computer support for tasking because the dependency between tasks is so important that I don't want to get involved in a solution without knowing it can approximate my needs.

I came back to check (again) on previous forum postings and find they are locked due to age, and don't even show up in the search capability of the forum.

I am sorry that we do not have this feature yet. To my knowledge, no other popular online tasks managers have this either. I think Microsoft Project has it. This is on our to-do list, but it is a very complicated feature to add. We don't have a roadmap for this feature, but it is frequently requested so it will come sooner rather than later.

But MS Project is hardly a task manager. It is a full-blown Critical Path Method project scheduler, meaning it takes months/years to learn and use properly. I used it, taught it and consulted on it for years. My introductory class was 2 days long, the the first half day we never opened the software, they just learned the underlying theory (Critical Path Method scheduling) so they could apply Project effectively. I am an expert on it, and have never given a thought to using it for my daily task list. In fact, I, and others, taught that each task in MS Project was the parent task for a list of tasks for the assigned resource. Project would drive anyone insane if they tried to use it as a task manager. Of course, if they knew it, and tried to use it as a task manager (I have seen this attempted), they were already insane.

So comparing any task manager on the market with Project is like comparing a pocket calculator with a PC.

But MS Project is hardly a task manager. It is a full-blown Critical Path Method project scheduler, meaning it takes months/years to learn and use properly. I used it, taught it and consulted on it for years. My introductory class was 2 days long, the the first half day we never opened the software, they just learned the underlying theory (Critical Path Method scheduling) so they could apply Project effectively. I am an expert on it...

(snipped)

Lot's of words but I'm not sure what you're saying - is it that task dependencies is too advanced for it to be functional in Toodledo, or, are you saying that the comparison is inadequate? (If the latter, then boy did you find a long-winded way about saying it)

Lot's of words but I'm not sure what you're saying - is it that task dependencies is too advanced for it to be functional in Toodledo, or, are you saying that the comparison is inadequate? (If the latter, then boy did you find a long-winded way about saying it)

It is an inappropriate comparison.

If you couldn't figure that out, I suggest you forgo both reading and commenting on my posts.This post has been hidden because of negative votes. Click to reveal

What bothers me is that the developer cant reach out for feedback/opinion if the users are left in the dark .. as we are. When we do get task dependency features .. we will either like it or "too bad".

Despite my pro subscription to toodledo , I have and will continue to seek the holy grail. Task dependency will make Toodledo that, for me.

toodledo just has to implement ONE of the aforementioned ides as an option that defaults off, says "Beta", and has a feedback link that leads to a post on this forum titled "Task Dependency Development". Thats what will get us all to help Toodledo become the best of the best .. and why wouldn't they want our free help?

A workaround - or for some of us perhaps even a simpler and better way than thinking in terms of dependencies - could be to make use of the already existent Status field in Toodledo, and promote tasks to higher levels manually during reviews:

- Next Action
- Active
- Hold
- Someday

The above four statuses are the ones I would consider to be straight-line promotions upward for your work. Then there is also the statuses Waiting and Delegated, which are convenient when your are waiting on somebody else.

Even for those who do not regularly review their projects, this method still will work: When you run out of Next Actions you simnply will have no other choice than to take a look at the Active ones and promote some of those. And so on - promote from Hold to Active etc.

This feature has been implemented very nicely in Nirvana 2.0. I would rather stick with Toodledo, can you please just implement it so the next list only shows actual next actions that are not dependent on other tasks.

The idea is that you can hit the next list, sort by context, and only see the exact tasks that you can work on right now. There is no point seeing tasks that are dependent when I'm trying to figure out what to do right NOW.